INEC suspends online voters registration May 30, cleans up voters register

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday revealed that the voters online registration going on in the country will be suspended on May 30, reiterating that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise will end on June 30.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at the second quarterly meeting with civil society organisations (CSOs) at the INEC Conference Room, Abuja, on Wednesday disclosed that both the online pre-registration and the physical registration at designated centres are taking place simultaneously. He explained that online pre-registrants would require time to schedule appointments to complete their registration physically at designated centers.

“For this reason, the Commission has decided to suspend the online registration in the next three weeks i.e., 30th May 2022.

“This will enable the online registrants to complete their registration physically at the designated centres before the exercise is suspended on 30th June 2022.

“This will enable the Commission to clean up the registration data, print the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and compile the register ahead of the 2023 General Election,” Prof. Yakubu declared.

The INEC chairman noted that the second regular quarterly meeting with CSOs after the last meeting on January 19, 2021, was significant for two reasons. He said that t5eh Wednesday meeting the first since the new Electoral Act came into force on Friday 25th February 2022. Yakubu expressed appreciation to civil society organisations for their sustained advocacy in support of the repeal and re-enactment of the Electoral Act 2022.

Secondly, the INEC chairman said, the meeting was also the first since the Commission released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election two months ago.

Yakubu emphasized that the 14 activities listed in the Timetable are being steadily implemented. “All the political parties in Nigeria have forwarded the schedules of their primaries to the Commission and some have commenced the process of choosing their candidates by conducting Ward and Local Government congresses,” he said.

Prof. Yakubu stated that beyond the conduct of primaries by political parties, the Commission is required to make Regulations and Guidelines for the implementation of the provisions of the Electoral Act. “These Regulations and Guidelines, together with the Constitution and the Electoral Act, constitute the electoral legal framework that govern the conduct of elections. I am glad to report that the Commission will finalise the Regulations and Guidelines next week to guide the conduct of future elections, including the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections as well as the 2023 General Election,” he said.

Prof. Yakubu stated that there are many progressive provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 which require clear understanding to guide implementation. He noted that one of such provisions is the electronic transmission of election results. The meeting deliberated on the implementation of the provisions of Sections 60, 62 and 64 of the Electoral Act 2022 regarding the management of election results.

He further emphasized that Section 54(2) of the Electoral Act makes provision for assistive materials for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). “This is another progressive provision of the new Electoral Act. Over the years, we have worked with the disability community in designing some of the assistive materials such as the Braille Ballot Guide and the provision of magnifying glasses for visually challenged voters and posters for the deaf. We are also working together to collect disaggregated data for PWDs to assist the Commission in optimally deploying the assistive materials. To deepen our collaboration, a meeting will be convened as early as next week with the disability community to discuss the implementation of the provisions of the new Electoral Act on inclusivity,” the INEC Chairman said.

Yakubu stated that the Commission presented a report on the cleaning up of the registration data at a Press Conference four weeks ago for the period June to December 2021. “For the first time, the Commission deployed the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) which is a comprehensive and robust system involving not just the fingerprint identification but also the facial biometric recognition,” he added. The report of the ABIS was presented to participants at the meeting, as well as a presentation on the exercise by the ICT Department.

On election technology, Yakubu said that the commission has reviewed the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) following the complaints received after the recent Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) held on 12th February 2022. He added that two weeks later, the Commission conducted six bye-elections in four States across four geo-political zones of the country covering rural, sub-urban and urban areas.

“It was the most extensive geo-political deployment of the BVAS since it was pioneered in the Isoko South I State Constituency bye-election in Delta State in June last year. In these bye-elections, the BVAS functioned optimally as attested to by the reports of your field observers accredited by the Commission.

“The lessons learnt from the most recent bye-elections have been taken into consideration as we prepare for the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections.

“The Commission has just finished the configuration of the BVAS for the Ekiti State Governorship election. We will also undertake a mock voter accreditation exercise in Ekiti State ahead of the main election on 18th June 2022, the details of which will be announced shortly,” Yakubu stated.